Series with New Mexico

UTEP and New Mexico will play each other in football only five times between now and a new contract-ending game in 2016. So said a report out of Albuquerque Tuesday.

That's not enough. These two schools have been long-time rivals. And rivals should play every year.

Citing "scheduling conflicts" is a copout for both schools. Do as does USC, which automatically puts Notre Dame on the schedule each year, even though USC has a Pac-10 schedule to complete. UTEP-New Mexico and UTEP-New Mexico State are the big fan-favorite games every season -- if they even play. Fans here don't really care about many of the teams in UTEP's Confence USA.

A report out of Albuquerque listed the five games.

In Albuquerque: 2010, 2014 and 2016.

In El Paso: 2012 and 2015.

Note there will be no games the next two seasons. Note New Mexico doesn't play here until five years from now.

Until recently, UTEP and New Mexico played virtually every year, beginning in 1919. New Mexico leads the series 42-30-3 -- that's 75 times. That sure beats UTEP vs. East Carolina, or even UTEP vs. other Texas schools such as Rice and SMU.